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Swine flu recently confirmed in five states, CDC reports

U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports 12 cases of confirmed swine flu since August in the United States.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control announced that they received 12 reports of swine flu from Aug. 17 to Dec. 23, 2011.

The cases of swine flu, the CDC indicated, were detected in the following states: Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Six of the 12 patients reported no contact with swine. Three patients were hospitalized. However, all of the hospitalized patients have recovered fully at this point.

The latest cases involved an adult male in Indiana with occupational exposure to swine, as well as two children in West Virginia who regularly attended the same daycare. On Oct. 28, the CDC was notified of a suspected case of swine flu in the adult male. The patient exhibited fever, cough, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting and body aches, and was hospitalized for four days. He did not receive treatment with influenza antiviral treatment. He tested positive for influenza on Oct. 22; symptoms began on Oct. 20. He reported direct contact with swine during work during the week before the symptoms began. He had not been wearing protective equipment during work, he indicated, but he said the swine did not show any signs of illness. No one else in his household reported illness, nor did any of his close contacts. He recovered fully.

In West Virginia, a child under the age of five developed an acute onset of fever, following a week of cough and congestion; the child had been hospitalized for an unrelated condition for two days before the onset of fever, which began on Nov. 19. Initial tests were negative for influenza, but the illness was later confirmed with alternative testing. The child had no recent travel or exposure to swine, and was discharged on Nov. 21; the child has recovered fully. However, a second child, under the age of five, who attended daycare regularly with the first child, also became ill. The child recovered fully, after having confirmation of influenza; the child was not hospitalized. Since then, no additional children at the daycare, or other contacts of either patient, have been identified as having swine flu.